Broadway ‘Best Man’ sets cast

Bergen, Larroquette join play revival

Candice Bergen, Angela Lansbury, John Larroquette and Michael McKean have aboarded the incoming Broadway revival of “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man,” joining James Earl Jones in the production that opens in April.

Larroquette, set to exit his Tony-winning stint in tuner “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” Jan. 1, will play a presidential candidate in the 1960 Vidal play, which centers on the backstage machinations at a political party’s national convention. Bergen portrays the candidate’s wife, while McKean will play his campaign manager and Lansbury a lobbyist.

Jones, who appeared in the recent revival of “Driving Miss Daisy” both in Gotham and the West End, appears as a fictional former U.S. president.

Bergen hasn’t acted on Broadway since the 1980s, when she had a stint in the original Rialto staging of David Rabe play “Hurlyburly.” Lansbury’s recent Main Stem gigs have included “Blithe Spirit,” for which she nabbed a Tony, and “A Little Night Music” opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones.

With the lastest round of casting, producers of “Best Man” have pulled together a well-known group that could prove appealing to the older demo that makes up a major portion of Broadway playgoers.

Michael Wilson (“Dividing the Estate,” “The Orphans’ Home Cycle”) helms the new staging, which starts rehearsals in late January. Produced by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel and Darren Bagert (Infinity Stages), “Best Man” begins previews March 6 ahead of an April 1 opening at a Shubert theater to be determined.